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Money matters: The sage of Omaha – how much value does
a good fund manager add?
Graham Macdonald
MBMG International Ltd.
There have long been comparisons between the best and
worst performing funds in a given sector or indeed between the best and
worst performing sectors. However, for us the true mettle of a fund
manager is what he would achieve in terms of added performance and reduced
risk if you simply let him loose to invest as he sees fittest. Many
institutions deny their star managers this luxury so we’ll never know.
However, at this time of the year Warren Buffett
reveals what strategy he has followed within his investment company,
Berkshire Hathaway and the results that they’ve achieved. Needless to
say his annual results and his insights into current trends and investment
issues are both equally keenly awaited. Consider the facts and it is easy
to understand why so many wait in anticipation for this commentary and his
legendary annual general meeting in Omaha in May.
Over the past 39 years book value of Berkshire has
increased 22.2% compounded annually. NAV per share was US$19 in 1965 and
is now US$50,498. Shares trade at nearly 2 times book or US$100,000 per
share. Total results versus the S&P500 are awesome since 1965, but
probably more impressive to me is the out performance in tough times.
The table above depicts Berkshires annual percentage
change in per share book value versus S&P500 with dividends
reinvested. The startling historic fact is that intrinsic value has
somewhat exceeded the 22.2% pa book gain. Enough of the history, everyone
knows Buffett is a GURU. Where is he positioned today and what are his
current views?
Berkshire has 4 main investment sectors, insurance,
operating businesses, finance and common stock investments. When
valuations are similar they strongly prefer owning businesses to owning
stocks and the latter has decreased in percentage as stocks become the far
more expensive choice.
In recent years they have found it hard to find
significantly undervalued stocks with 1) favourable and enduring economic
characteristics, 2) talented and honest management, and 3) are available
at a sensible price. 2003 was a terrific year for their insurance
businesses. They produced an underwriting profit of US$1.7bn and had the
use of US$44bn of “float” assets. GEICO continued to prosper and the
reinsurance company, General Re looks to have turned the corner.
Following on from last year’s thesis on derivatives,
General Re is still trying to exit all derivatives activities since 2002.
It has cost US$173mn in 2002 and US$99mn in 2003 to shrink this business,
but more importantly in early 2002 it had 23,213 outstanding contracts
with 884 counterparties (some having names that Buffett couldn’t
pronounce let alone evaluate creditworthiness). Despite a concerted
effort, they still have 7,580 outstanding contracts with 453
counterparties! These losses have come in a benign market; all contracts
were previously valued marked to market and without any major credit loss.
Buffett cautions again on the shenanigans of derivative accounting and
what is lurking in the undergrowth, indeed the more you learn the less you
know from disclosure documents.
The scary thing about all this is the sheer gigantic
size of the unregulated OTC derivatives market place and that General Re
has taken these hits in an orderly market. What happens if a financial
crisis forced a number of derivative dealers to cease operations
simultaneously?
Reported profits are illusionary and Buffet notes that
the cash needed to prop this business up in the tough times would be
exactly the time they wanted to deploy that very cash into other assets at
huge advantages. They remain convinced that derivatives are financial
weapons of mass destruction, carrying dangers that, whilst now latent are
potentially lethal.
All Berkshire’s boring businesses performed well in
2003 and they made a major acquisition in manufactured housing, brought a
distribution business from Wal-Mart and continue to grow MidAmerican
Energy Holdings. Existing businesses such as Flight Services, Shaw
Industrial and Fruit of the Loom are in good shape. The common stock
investment portfolio remains dominated by Coca-Cola, American Express and
Gillette and they are neither enthusiastic nor negative about the
portfolio they hold.
Buffett is annoyed that he didn’t sell several of the
larger holdings in The Great Bubble. In 2002 Berkshire purchased US$8bn of
junk bonds or high yield debt because they felt it was cheap. He notes
that the pendulum has swung quickly and this sector looks decidedly
unattractive. Yesterday’s weeds are today being priced as flowers and an
exit strategy is in progress.
Finally, Buffett is critical of US corporate
governance, the US trade deficit, US$, mutual fund directors and
un-repenting CEOs. His cash pile of US$36bn (US$12bn is in foreign
currencies) is only earning a pittance, but he is prepared to
under-utilise capital and be patient as it is way less painful than doing
something stupid. A very wise man indeed! We remain keen on retaining some
managed exposure to Berkshire Hathway within our client portfolios.
The above data and research was compiled from sources
believed to be reliable; however, neither MBMG nor its officers can accept
any liability for any errors or omissions in the above article nor bear
responsibility for any losses achieved as a result of any actions taken or
not taken as a consequence of reading the above article. For more
information about the above please don’t hesitate to contact MBMG
International Limited, No.2Z, 2nd Floor, Somkid Place, No. 6 Soi Somkid,
Ploenchit Road, Lumpini, Patumwan, Bangkok 10330 - Thailand, Telephone: +
662 650 3123/4. Facsimile: + 662 650 3125 e-mail:
[email protected] Website: www.mbmg-international.com
Snap Shots: Photographing glamour fronts and its unglamorous back side!
by Harry Flashman
 I
was reminded of this the other day when a photographic friend asked me to
comment on a couple of shots he had taken of a young model in lingerie.
Nice photos of a nice lady - but - (there’s always a ‘but’ as the
sheep once said) there were some problems to be overcome, and there’s no
harder judge than the viewer of glamour photography. Or someone who made a
living out of it.
The first problem is the model herself (or himself, I
should hasten to add). All models have an image of themselves in their
minds, and if the shot does not convey that image, the photographer has a
problem straight away. Having shot more than one aspiring model, I have
also to report that I have had to destroy more than one set of negatives
of young ladies who were so shocked at what they really looked like, that
they gave up all thoughts of the cat-walk and glamour calendars
immediately. And guess who bore the costs of the destroyed film and my
time? (You’re reading him!)
Taking photographs of people is always difficult
compared to taking photos of still lives. The plate of food does not
complain that its eyes look ‘funny’. One Asian gentleman asked that I
not make his eyes look too ‘Asian’! About the only way round that
problem would have been to photograph the back of his head! It’s that
‘image’ thing again.
Another huge problem is that the girl who looks a
complete knock-out in the flesh (so to speak) may not come out well in a
photo - and the reverse holds true too - girls you wouldn’t give a
second look to can come out brilliantly on film. The answer to this
conundrum is called the Photo Test. For a glamour calendar shoot, this is
how it goes.
Every day the studio was host to the hopefuls. Similar
glamour calendars were shown to the models and they all signed a piece of
paper (the Model Release) to say that they were over 18 and had no
objection to being photographed topless. Now this test should have just
been a quick film exposure of personal exposure and wait for the results.
Nothing is ever that easy! Some girls would come out from the (un)dressing
room in dressing gowns and stand in the stage set and then freeze. One
girl even asked me to stand with my back to her - this would certainly
have made it very difficult to focus and did not augur well as to her
future as a glamour model! One hopeful (hopeless) girl came three times
and stumbled at the final hurdle every time.
Even then, you can have a problem with the models. On
one calendar shoot, this involved a large piece of road-laying equipment,
with the model walking beside it, as it trundled down the road. 72
exposures were done, using fill-flash. A stylist was on the shoot to make
sure the lingerie was fitted correctly. The road-layer had its driver and
side-kick. And all these people were paid. The shoot took around three
hours. When I got the shots back, the model had closed her eyes in every
frame! 72 shots of clearly focused eyelids! And guess who paid for the
re-shoot? You’re reading him!
Even when you have got to the stage of having a bevy of
well-trained models who can keep their eyes open and don’t worry about
looking as if they have ‘Asian’ eyes, that is not the end of your
woes. On one very big budget glamour shoot for a glossy calendar, on the
day of one young lady’s shoot she came down with the measles. While the
client’s colour was pink, pink spots on the model did not enhance the
company product. At very short notice we had to hire another professional
model to do the shoot. And guess who paid for the new model? You’re
reading him!
“Glamour” photographic work may sound glamorous, but it is
difficult and fraught with problems. Embarrassed would-be models is the
smallest of these!
Modern Medicine: Your Appendix. Singular or plural?
by Dr. Iain Corness, Consultant
With the Crown Prince recently having an
Appendicectomy (Appendectomy if you are American) it reminded me that it has
been a while since we mentioned Appendicitis, a very common ailment. It is
generally the first operation that a young surgeon does for a solo (and it was
for me too - a Russian seaman in Gibraltar - and I still wonder if he’s doing
fine!).
The condition that leads to the Appendix being removed is
called Appendicitis (remember that “-itis” at the end of the word usually
means inflammation). The initial symptoms include abdominal pain, at first
around the navel, but then moving out to the right side of the lower abdomen.
There can be nausea and sometimes diarrhoea as well. The symptoms can also
rapidly progress - the “hot” appendix, or slowly lessen, the so-called
“grumbling” appendix.
So just what is the Appendix, and is it singular or plural (I
have heard patients tell me many times that they “have had them removed”)?
The appendix is a little “finger” shaped appendage that hangs off the bowel
and connects with it. Ruminants such as cows have large ones, if size really
matters! For us, it is also one of those cute “vestigial” organs which has
no apparent functional use these days, but can give us lots of problems if
things go wrong. And things often do go wrong, with appendicitis being
experienced by about 1 person in 500 every year. Males suffer from this more
than females and it can strike at any age, though under two is exceptionally
rare. The most affected age group is between fifteen and twenty-four.
So what causes Appendicitis? It is a form of infection which
is generally from the food passing through the gut and can be bacterial or even
viral. Sometimes the poo (nice medical term) in the gut gets jammed into the
appendix and causes the initial problem. Just for the record, we call it
inspissated faeces, just to make it sound grander than it really is.
While the signs and symptoms of Appendicitis are
straightforward, the diagnosis is not so easy as a number of other abdominal
conditions will mimic the symptoms. From my medical student days I can even
remember one item in the differential diagnosis being the Abdominal Crises of
Porphyria! I must admit that in 35 years of medicine I’ve never met one!
There are some laboratory tests which can be done, especially
a blood test to see if the White Cell count has gone up, and some centres will
perform ultrasound to try to differentiate what is going on inside the belly.
The definitive “cure” is to whip out the offending organ.
You don’t need it. My old surgical boss always told me to make sure the skin
incision was as small and as neat as possible, because that was all the patient
had to go by to judge one’s competency. It didn’t matter what went on inside
- just make sure the outside looked good! This was particularly important with
young females and a 1 cm scar level with the top of the bikini bottom was the
ideal.
Post-operatively the vast majority of patients do well and
are up and about in a few days, happily living without their appendix, but if
you’re having some grumbling gut pains, perhaps you should let the doctor cast
his practiced eye over it. It might be time to have “it” out!
 Heart to Heart with Hillary
Dear Hillary,
Your disinclination to slip into a rubber suit has caught me by surprise. I
imagined that Aunties were always ‘up for it’. Never mind, Postman Pat and
his little black cat are on their way with a tube of Smarties (Nit likes red
ones) and a bottle of Babycham. Wicked, yes/no?
Mistersingha
Dear Mistersingha,
As always it is you who is confused, my wilting Petal. Note I used ‘wilting’
and not ‘willing’. It is uncles who are, as you so delicately put it, “up
for it”. If a tube of Smarties (sans red ones for Nit) ever arrives, I shall
drown myself in the promised Babycham, with extreme shock. That’s about all
that should be done with bottles such as that, though I believe it does help
unblock drains and others have told me it is a good cleaner for alloy wheels.
Wicked? No. Trying to wriggle out of your promises? Yes!
Hi Hillary,
I am about to retire, and after many visits to Pattaya have decided it is the
place I want to spend my golden years. Surfing the net to find property for sale
in Pattaya is not a problem and the sites are very well put together. But, try
and find a used car dealership on the net that is in Pattaya is impossible. I
have been trying for days with no luck whatsoever. Do you know of any domains
that will help with my quest? There could be a bottle of Krug in this for you,
not to mention the Belgium chocolates.
Mario
Dear Mario,
Thank you, Snowflake, you are the ‘real thing’. You understand. You talk
Hillary’s language. For a bottle of Krug I’m yours, my Petal. Not like the
“kee nee-oh” (stingy and mean) Mistersingha and his current offer of
Babycham. Unfortunately, the used car business, like the used car businesses all
over the world, have a tendency to be like nomadic hill tribes - here today and
gone tomorrow. Or perhaps it is “Slash and Burn” - slash your wallet and
burn the contents! Websites for such (auto)mobile businesses are few and far
between. Most come under the heading of “Midnight Motors” as they’re gone
the next morning. You could try clicking on
http://splash.handii.com/thailand_cars.htm and this might give you some links to
try. However, I have a better thought. When you come over, we could go looking
for your dream car together, I’ll bring the ice bucket, you bring the Krug.
And don’t forget the Belgian choccies!
Dear Hillary,
I have not been in Thailand a very long time, but the men’s barbers get me in
a pickle. Every time I go to get the golden locks shortened, the barber wants to
give me a good thumping on the back half way through the haircut, and then at
the end I get my arms bent every way and thumped from hands to shoulders. Last
time one barber attacked me with some sort of vibrating electric motor strapped
on his hand, tilted the chair back and began to try and massage my legs! I have
no complaints about the haircut or the price, but all I want is a haircut. I am
worried about what part of my body will be attacked next. What do I do?
Hairy
Dear Hairy,
What you are experiencing is the normal service for a local Thai barber with
local customers. You should feel honoured at being accepted! However, if you
really can’t stand the free massage, then you have several options, depending
upon your linguistic skills. You can politely say (in Thai), “haircut only”
(Dat pom yang diow), but if you are not confident enough to say that, then you
can always visit the much more expensive barbers in the big shopping centres
whose staff do speak English and will be happy to accommodate you as a cut only,
but really, my Petal, you should be brave and relax and enjoy the ‘value
added’ services.
Dear Hillary,
One of the girls in my regular bar was trying to read a letter from a farang
boyfriend and asked me to explain a couple of sections for her. It was the usual
boyfriend abroad to girlfriend in Thailand letter and in it he said he was
looking forward to coming back to Thailand next month. When I asked her who he
was, she said she couldn’t remember! Hillary, why do these girls act like
this? Surely they must remember, or was she just playing with me?
Back of the bar, Bob
Dear Back of the bar, Bob,
She was not playing with you (even though you may have wanted her to), the
simple fact is that the only person playing with your head is you! These girls
are in the business of making overseas tourists feel as if they are the one
person in the world that they have been waiting all their entire life for.
Unfortunately for the individual tourist, they play that role every evening, so
it should not be surprising that they don’t know which particular tourist is
writing to them. Particularly if their name is something common, like Bob, even
if he is ‘back of the bar’.
A Slice of Thai History:
Escape from Bangkok 1945
Part Five: The Final Escape
by Duncan steam
Concerned about rumours that the
Japanese were preparing to take over all facilities and camps in Bangkok,
the officers in charge of the POWs thought their lives would be in
jeopardy and therefore began organising an escape plan.
While in the POW camp, they experienced an Allied air
raid whose bombs came closer than they would have liked. “The raid did
not last long and it was later rumoured that the main railway station and
freight yards had been almost completely destroyed as was another section
of the dock system,” Pugh stated.
One of the internees had managed to obtain an old radio
and was “able to pick up Allied broadcasts mostly from Ceylon or India
... Then it happened ... the Americans had bombed Hiroshima in Japan, with
what they were calling an Atom Bomb that literally destroyed the
City...”
On 9 August the POWs and internees learned of the
second atomic bomb on Nagasaki and all realised the war was nearly at its
end. However, the POWs were a long way from feeling secure as rumours of a
complete Japanese takeover of Bangkok continued to do the rounds. The
rumours carried sufficient weight that the Free Thai Movement and the OSS
operatives in the city decided on a new escape plan for the POWs. “The
Japs did not normally travel through the part of Bangkok where we were
imprisoned; however, truckloads of Japanese soldiers were now passing
close to our camp presumably to take up new positions in the event they
decided to take over Bangkok completely.”
On 14 August, Japan surrendered. “All of a sudden the
Siamese could not do enough for the Internees in particular, and relaxed
their control over us in that we were allowed to freely mingle on the
grounds with the internees. A special section near the main gate opposite
end of the camp to our gate was set aside for relatives and friends of the
internees to freely mingle for hours instead of the usual 30 minutes.”
However, on 23 August the POWs were advised the
commander of Japanese forces in Southeast Asia had vowed to fight on, in
spite of the surrender of Tokyo. Therefore, the original escape plan had
been re-activated and at midnight on 24 August the 27 POWs were taken from
their compound and placed aboard a bus which transported them to the
headquarters of the Free Thai Movement: the basement of the Regent, Pridi
Banomyong’s, house. “I was truly fascinated with the wall-to-wall
radio transmitters and receivers - it was incredible...” wrote Pugh.
After a meal of hot curry and chicken, the POWs were
put back aboard the bus and driven to Don Muang airport. “This airport
was shared equally by the Japanese Air Force and the Royal Siamese Air
Force and was split accordingly. We learned later that the Japs were on
one side of the main runway and the Siamese the other. On arrival we were
led quickly and quietly to what appeared to be a large waiting room and
told to lie down out of sight and to keep absolutely quiet.”
The group re-assembled at dawn and were taken out to
board three aircraft which had been brought close to the building. They
took off just before 8 a.m. on Saturday 25 August without the Japanese
being aware of their presence.
A couple of hours later they landed on a jungle
airstrip in central Thailand and were met by OSS and SAS men. At 11 a.m.
an American DC-3 aircraft arrived and all the POWs clambered aboard for
the return journey to Rangoon in Burma.
The next day they found out the Japanese commander in
Southeast Asia had decided to follow the wishes of his government and
comply with the terms of surrender.
The four crewmen who died in the operation were later
disinterred and reburied in the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery.
Personal Directions: Building a Positive Personality
by Christina Dodd
This week I would like to introduce you to some ideas by
Shiv Khera on Steps to Building a Positive Personality. I have mentioned his
work to you in the past and he has a very clear way of expressing his
viewpoint on subjects such as personal growth and development. This
particular subject is one of the most written about subjects with a zillion
books out there on the bookstore shelves, but Shiv Khera is quite down to
earth about it all. Hope you enjoy it.
Step 1:
Accept responsibility
“Responsibilities gravitate to the person who can
shoulder them.” When people accept additional responsibility they are
actually giving themselves a promotion.
Responsible behavior is to accept accountability and that
represents maturity. Acceptance of responsibility is a reflection of our
attitude and the environment we operate in. Most people are quick to take
credit for what goes right but very few would accept responsibility when
things go wrong. A person who does not accept responsibility is not absolved
from being responsible. Our objective is to cultivate responsible behavior.
Responsible behavior should be inculcated right from childhood. It cannot be
taught without a certain degree of obedience.
Stop the blame game. Avoid phrases such as:
* everyone else does it
* no one does it
* it is all your fault
People who don’t accept responsibility shift the blame
to their parents, teachers, genes, God, fate, luck or the stars.
Johnny said, “Mama, Jimmy broke the window.” Mama
asked, “How did he do it?” Johnny replied, “I threw a stone at him and
he ducked.”
People who use their privileges without accepting
responsibility usually end up losing them. Responsibility involves
thoughtful action.
Pettiness causes us to ignore our responsibilities. Think
about it. Petty minds are busy passing the buck rather than doing what needs
to be done.
Social responsibility. Ancient Indian wisdom teaches us
that our first responsibility is to the community, second to our family and
third to our self. A society starts degenerating when this order is
reversed. Social responsibility ought to be the moral obligation of every
citizen. Responsibility and freedom go hand in hand.
The price of greatness is responsibility.
- Winston Churchill
Societies are not destroyed by the activities of rascals
but by the inactivity of good people. What a paradox! If they can tolerate
destruction by being inactive, how can they be good? The question is, are
they discharging their social responsibility?
For evil to flourish, good people have to do nothing and
evil shall flourish.
- Edmund Burke
Step 2:
Think win/win
A man died and St. Peter asked him if he would like to go
to heaven or hell. The man asked if he could see both before deciding.
St. Peter took him to hell first and the man saw a big
hall with a long table, lots of food on it and music playing. He also saw
rows of people with pale, sad faces. They looked starved and there was no
laughter. And he observed one more thing. Their hands were tied to four-foot
forks and knives and they were trying to get the food from the center of the
table to put into their mouths. But they couldn’t.
Then, he went to see heaven. There he saw a big hall with
a long table, with lots of food on the table and music playing. He noticed
rows of people on both sides of the table with their hands tied to four-foot
forks and knives also. But he observed there was something different here.
People were laughing and were well-fed and healthy-looking. He noticed that
they were feeding one another across the table. The result was happiness,
prosperity, enjoyment, and gratification because they were not thinking of
themselves alone; they were thinking win/win. The same is true of our lives.
When we serve our customers, our families, our employers and employees, we
automatically win.
Step 3: Choose your words carefully
A person who says what he likes usually ends up hearing
what he doesn’t like. Be tactful. Tact consists of choosing one’s words
carefully and knowing how far to go. It also means knowing what to say and
what to leave unsaid. Talent without tact may not always be desirable. Words
reflect attitude. Words can hurt feelings and destroy relationships. More
people have been hurt by an improper choice of words than by any natural
disaster. Choose what you say rather than say what you choose. That is the
difference between wisdom and foolishness.
Excessive talking does not mean communication. Talk less;
say more. A fool speaks without thinking; a wise man thinks before speaking.
Words spoken out of bitterness can cause irreparable
damage. The way parents speak to their children in many instances shapes
their children’s future and destiny.
Spoken words can’t be retrieved. A farmer slandered his
neighbor. Realizing his mistake, he went to the preacher to ask for
forgiveness. The preacher told him to take a bag of feathers and drop them
in the center of town. The farmer did as he was told. Then the preacher
asked him to go and collect the feathers and put them back in the bag. The
farmer tried, but couldn’t as the feathers had all blown away. When he
returned with the empty bag, the preacher said, “The same thing is true
about your words. You dropped them rather easily but you cannot retrieve
them, so be very careful in choosing them.”
These are just a few steps that have been highlighted in
this week’s column and if you are interested in reading more of Shiv
Khera’s thoughts, his international best-seller is titled “You Can Win
– A step by step tool for top achievers”. It’s great reading.
If you would like to write to me or contact me further
about any of our personal or business skills programs, then please email me
at Christina.dodd@asiatrainin gassociates.com I’d be very happy to hear
from you.
Until next time, have a tremendous week!
Social Commentary by Khai Khem:
Hello! Is anyone out there?
My TOT and TT&T telephone lines were
in perfect order during Songkran holidays - not before, and not now. The
‘big Songkran push’ is over and now that all the tourists have left,
I’m stuck with such noise on my TOT line that I cannot stay connected to
the Internet because it is connecting at between 16-36 Kbps AGAIN.
What is going on? My guess is the massive real estate
and building boom - old equipment, too many new properties, too little
money, lack of planning, and not enough lines and skilled employees have
left us all caught short. Am I close? The problem with guessing is that
most ordinary people guess wrong.
Thank goodness for letter-writer Ron Martin and his
kind effort in sharing his problems with us. We are definitely not alone.
TT&T and TOT do need to get their house in order. How can a region of
this size and population survive without the most basic telephone
services? I feel like a neglected car, running on only half its cylinders.
We are all limping at ‘half speed’.
Such unreliability is annoying but if the companies
would respond to our questions in a professional way, customers could be
reassured with more information and know that upgrades are in progress. If
the news is gloomy at least we would know what is going on and perhaps
adjust accordingly and temper our impatience.
The good news is that when my field technicians do
come, it is because the complaints operator bothers to write out their
work orders, otherwise the men in the field do not know which addresses
are having problems.
Today I got a woman on the 1177038 complaints number
who actually spoke English but told me to wait so she could speak to
someone else. That tells me she has little authority to give a direct
order, and the ‘backroom’ employees that communicate with field
technicians are not telling anyone, not filing the paperwork, or whatever!
To be fair, maybe they are just so busy running from address to address
because the telephones all over this area going ‘kaput’. Who’s
minding the store here? Do they need to bring cable, computers, switching
gear boxes, whatever from Chonburi; Bangkok? Are we suffering a spate of
new hook-ups, waiting for more modern equipment? Who knows? It is
imperative that this situation is corrected as soon as possible.
Mr. Martin is right; the office workers and complaints
operators are not technical people. However, the field technicians are
quite capable of eventually tracking down the problem which is often
outside and involves a lot of complicated trouble-shooting - IF and WHEN
they get the tools and cooperation they need.
I’m not sure about Mr. Martin’s “freelance
technicians”. I assumed the field technicians in the Mabprachan area
were TOT and TT&T employees and have credentials to come into my home
to check my equipment and are accredited to check public phone lines,
outside cables, and report faults with the aim of finding where the fault
lies and submitting the reports.
So far each and every technician who has been coming to
my home for more than 8 years has finally either found the problem on my
property, or diagnosed the problem down the line to my eventual
satisfaction. Yes, some problems took longer than others to solve, but
I’ve had my same TOT number and line for almost 8 years, and although
the reliability has hit bumpy patches, I still own the line and use it.
I’ve been told by TOT branch offices over the years
that one department doesn’t speak to the other. These telephone
companies cover all of Thailand but have no system to exchange info (or
working mentality prevents it and I believe this to be true). Interaction
throughout departments must improve information exchange and co-ordinate
their areas more effectively.
I’ve had some wild rides with telephones in Pattaya
but not all of them ended badly. In the past I spent 5 months getting my
original TOT line to work. I had no dial tone for months and when I did,
it didn’t last more than a day or so. The manager at the time from the
S. Pattaya office drove to my house in his business suit to direct
technicians and show good will. Turned out all the switching gear boxes
from BKK were defective - a whole factory order made by a European
company. This does happen sometimes when Quality Control has been
overlooked. TOT bought the equipment in good faith. It was eventually
replaced when the error was discovered.
During this time I hired my own telecommunications
experts out of Mabtaput to go and sort it out. As far as I could
understand, each telephone number has its own switch box. Noise on the
line, dead line (no dial tone), and continual engaged signal can all be
traced to switching gear or fault on property line or main cables on
roads, etc. This is complicated, frustrating and most of us do not have
time or inclination to take a course in modern telecommunications.
Trouble- shooting on modern telecommunications is difficult under the best
circumstances. Even very advanced nations go through this at one time or
another.
If some of my information is either incorrect or
outdated, please consult with an expert on this subject. I’m also
confused. I can only relate to some of this from personal past experience
and what I hear from other users, plus what my field technicians have
shared with me. Truthfully, it is over my head.
On a lighter note; I will probably miss my deadline to
my Editor today. Sorry Ed. Dead line on TOT.
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